ASTRA Bioman at Mt. Fuji's 5th Stop

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The Philippine Assistance Group of the Cultural Section of the Philippine Embassy organized a Yamanashi-Ken (Mt. FUJI/Kawaguchi Lake/Grape-Picking/Mercian Winery) tour and 22 people of the Kaladkaran gang confirmed to attend. The bus was said to have a seating capacity of 45-50 so that meant the Kaladkaran gang would take up almost half of the bus space I guess a lot of us were intrigued with the chance of seeing Fuji-san and experiencing wine tasting. I thought it sounded so classy 

Meeting time was said to be 6:30am sharp at Harajuku so everyone did their best to wake up early as Harajuku was a good 40 minutes away from where most people live. Much to everyone’s annoyance (Tinats being the most annoyed for waking up a bit late and deciding not to come with us), one of the organizers was freaking late and the departure was delayed by around 40 minutes Thus the Pinoy-ness of this all pinoy event started

On board the bus, the organizers did a little pep talk and made us introduce ourselves. One of the organizers claimed that she was from Colorado or was that North Carolina (?) and was faking an American accent that sounded really horrible. Her grammar was also so bad that it took me a tremendous amount of self control not get out of my seat and tell her off to speak in Tagalog instead

First stop was at Mt. Fuji’s 5th stop. Since it was still summer then Fuji’s 5th stop was swarming with hikers. Made me want to climb Mt. Fuji’s top, too.  Hopefully I’ll be able to climb Mt Fuji summer this year.

We spent about an hour at Fuji’s 5th stop. There was nothing much to do so we just spent the time taking pictures

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Kaladkaran Levitation Attempt - photo taken by Tha

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Next stop was at the Kawaguchi Lake. This is where we had our lunch. Lunch was all Pinoy and in all Pinoy regala – was packed in huge tupperwares.  The food I think was cooked by one of the organizers. The food wasn’t fantastic but having woken up early and not eating any breakfast the food was well – FOOD. The Kawaguchi Lake view would have been beautiful if the spot we chose to eat wasn’t making me and a lot of my Kaladkaran friends a tad bit self conscious. We ate outside the lake side’s restaurant’s patio and I wasn’t very sure if the organizers asked for permission Anyway, I felt rather ashamed since we didn’t buy our food from the restaurant and we stayed there for free. I also couldn’t help not noticing the restaurant’s patron’s curious if not piercing gaze towards our direction.  Kind of made me feel conscious about our Pinoy-ness and how we project our image to the world I don’t want other nationalities to think that Pinoys are that dense.

That didn’t stop us from taking more pictures, though. Yes, we are indeed Pinoy!

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Yamanashi Lake - photo taken by Gabby

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Third stop was grape picking and wine tasting at the Mercian Winery. The grape picking was fun but I realized that it wasn’t really my thing. I just wanted to eat grapes not pick them

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Grape picking - photo by Kaye

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Finally, the moment I have been looking forward to the most – wine tasting. And because I have been looking forward to this particular event, it has greatly disappointed me. When wine tasting was said to be part of the tour, I had in mind cellars, wine glasses and maybe a little introduction of how the winery started and how they ferment their wine and perhaps a little lecture on the how-to’s of wine tasting. It turned out that the “wine tasting” the organizers were referring to was just sampling the wines in disposable plastic cups and drinking as much as you can in an hour. Arrrgh. It was no different than the “free tastes” you see in supermarkets

The trip was overall a disappointment. A big horrible disappointment. The experience would make me think a hundred times over before joining anything organized by PAG or any Pinoy organization ever again.

The day ended with dinner at an exorbitant Spanish restaurant in Shinjuku.

It was one of those days you just had to charge to experience.

Links to pictures can be seen here:

Tha

Van

Mayen

Benson

Kaye

Gabby

Takejiro

We celebrated Jem (Aug 17), Lau (Aug 25) and M’s (Aug 31) birthday by indulging into gluttony at the Carne Station at Ginza. For only 1000 yen (lunch time) we got to stuff our bellies with tabehodai (eat-all-you-can) yakiniku red meat for an hour Highly recommended for meat lovers. Too bad it only lasted an hour.

Because lunch finished early and we were up for more partying, the gang went to the Big Echo Karaoke at Ginza to burn some calories we accumulated from the tabehodai. We had so much fun that I think we spent around 5-6 hours singing and dancing and shouting. Hahaha. I had bit too much Smirnoff Ice that some episodes were a bit hazy. Hehehe.

Kaladkaran peeps at the Big Echo, Ginza

After the Karaoke, Tid, Jem, Orson, Justin and I checked out an Indian restaurant at Ginza. It was a bit pricey but had the best lamb curry I’ve ever had I so miss Prince of Jaipur back home.

After the meal at some Indian resto in Ginza

More pictures of the day’s happenings from Ramil and Orson

The week flew by so fast but it was a week well spent. So far one of the best weeks I’ve ever had. Looking forward to actually living life some more As for the rest of the week, who said you can’t live life to the fullest at weekdays?

Me in a yukata

The Kaladkaran gang donned in full yukata regalia for the Tokyo Bay Cruise

The tour gave a fantastic view of Tokyo at night and we were able to see the Rainbow Bridge up close.

(L-R) Elai, Apple, Me, Ish and Tid with Tokyo's night time view in our background

The crowd was lively, everyone was having fun and the Yukata Dancers sure did sizzle up our summer night

Yukata Dancer

Too bad the tour only lasted for 2 hours. Uber bitin talaga. Anyway, after the boat docked, the gang conducted around two hours worth of picture taking to  grab the momentous event of Kaladkarins in yukatas. Hehehehe. This is one night I’m sure I’d never forget

The gang inside the boat

More pictures from Tinats and Ed and a really cool video from Lau Salamat sa pictures at video, guys!

Uber tagal na nito but just felt the need to backtrack

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Kaladkaran at Fuji-Q (picture from Tha

Went to Fuji-Q Highlands with the Kaladkaran gang last June 8. It was the first major Kaladkaran excursion I ever joined. It has only been barely a month since I arrived but I already want to cover as much of Japan’s territory as I possibly can

The trip was soooo much fun! It was an awesome day. It’s one of those experiences you would never forget the for the rest of your life. It was my first roller coaster ride, too (Fujiyama involving a 79m drop-weeeeeeee)! Talk about desensitizing one’s self of his fear of heights and quenching one’s need for speed!

“Oh my Goooood!” is all that I can say. Fun! Fun! Fun!

That's me on the left anticipating the loops and drops of the 4-D roller coaster Eenjanaika. Regina on the right still so poised. Hahaha, di halatang takot Thanks to Scion for the picture!

More pictures here, here and here. Thanks to Scion, Tha and Sheen

Kaladkaran at the Kugenuma Kaigan Beach - picture taken by Gabby (M is somewhere out there)

Went to the Kugenuma Kaigan Beach with the Kaladkaran gang last Saturday to make sense out of the summer heat. It is true that the beaches in Japan are NOTHING compared to the beaches back home but it’s just so freaking hot lately that any body of water to dip yourself into would suffice. The waves are great for body surfing and tried my hand at it. Got scraped elbows and multiple sun burns from the experience but it was so much fun! I wish I was a better swimmer so I would have the confidence to swim further out into the sea and catch better waves but I am not so I just contented myself with those I could catch. It was still loads of fun anyway Hope I’ve become a better swimmer next time.

Got darker by a thousand degrees and body pains to infinity but would definitely do it again! Plus any gimmick with the Kaladkaran gang is bound to be fun Kulitan elevated into an art form

Ishy-babeh and I at the Kugenuma Kaigan Beach (sunburnt and all)

After the beach and a staggering 800 yen shower (Yep pinatulan ko. Unlike the guys, di ko kayang tiisin ang kalagkitan ng karagatan for 1 and a half hours sa tren and besides sabi ng mga namamahala kawaii daw ako, hehehe) , off to Jac’s party we went. Inuman na naman ito! Parang di ko lang kaiinom the night before at sabog pa from absinthe the day itself. Wehehehe. Saya!

It was a night of pancit, beef steak (beaf steak ba yun? wehehehe), shrimp-thinga-ma-jigs (hehe, sorry di ko alam pangalan ng dish hehei), chu-hi and more absinthe at Jac’s and Guia’s beautiful apartment at Nagayama. Discovered that I have a natural talent for playing Wii. Hehehe, kicked a lot of butts. Wehehehe. Super fun! Too bad I wasn’t able to stay awake for as long as the other people were. Was so tired from body boarding and was still sabog from absinthe the night before.

Looking forward to the next drinking spree, guys!

Jac's Birthday Party with Vanush and Laiza

Had to face the long trek to Bubaigawara and Nishi-Funabashi early the next day to get the free microwave I looted from Tokyo Free Cycle. Was hoping I can still drag the thing halfway Tokyo with whatever energy that’s still left in me. Arrgh, and it’s going to be so freakin hot again! On the other hand, adventure na naman iyon